This seems like an appropriate place to post the story I wrote about the Frisky Pete. Enjoy - Bob
Cal Smith’s Frisky Pete
Story by Bob Hunt
In 1952 Fawcett Books published a book entitled “Cal Smith on Model Building.” Cal’s real name was S. Calhoun Smith, but the modeling world knew him simply and well as Cal Smith. A complete story about Cal’s involvement in modeling would make for a very long and detailed book in itself. Cal was well known in the model airplane field as a designer, author, competitor, illustrator and all around good guy. He was in large part responsible for the Navy Carrier event.
Cal’s 1952 book was a showcase for his widely diverse interests in modeling. In it were general articles about control line flying, free flight flying, radio control flying, model boating, R/C race cars, and other articles about tools, materials, general construction techniques, covering and finishing. There were also a number of original designs with plans published in that book. Among these were several F/F and C/L designs that covered the spectrum from beginner to expert competitor types. One of these was a very sporty and easy to build C/L stunt model called the Frisky Pete.
My dad had a copy of that book and it was a favorite of mine. I’d sit and read the articles over and over, and I picked up a lot of valuable building information that I still use to this day. My favorite model in that book was the “Frisky Pete.” It had the looks of a Goodyear racer type plane, and the plans depicted it with very sleek, optional wheel pants (Although Cal decided not to install them on the model pictured in the article). I always wanted to build one, but full-size plans were not available at that time. The plans in the magazine did include a scale, so I really could have drawn it up if I hadn’t been so lazy!
Over the years I would often open that book and again get the urge to build the Frisky Pete. In 1995 decided to finally bite the bullet and build one for the 25th Anniversary Garden State Circle Burners Old Time Stunt event. Dick Sarpolus had similar feelings about Frisky Pete and he had the plans from the book enlarged to full-size. He sent the enlargement to me to do an overlay and trace the outline accurately in pencil. The problem was that the model had been drawn on two separate plates for the book and the two scales did not agree. Even when that problem was overcome it was found that a few of the parts dimensions did not agree from one plate to the other. It was decided to use the side view as the master for these dimensions and a new set of accurate plans were drawn in pencil.
I actually built my Frisky Pete in less than two weeks to have it ready to use at the Vintage Stunt Championships that year. One major problem was found almost right away as I began to build the fuselage. The original model had been designed around a K&B Torpedo .29. The lower face of that engine’s mounting lugs were not in line with the center of the crankshaft. Virtually all other glow engines have the lower face of the lugs right on the center line of the crankshaft, and I was going to be using one of these; a Fox .25 specifically… This meant that the motor mount shown on the plans were actually 3/16 of an inch too high in the model! I don’t think that too many will actually power their Frisky Pete models with a Torp .29, so I have modified the plans to accommodate regular glow engines. If you do opt to use the Torp, remember to raise the mounts 3/16 of an inch!
Since I was building my Frisky Pete to travel to VSC, I decided to make the landing gear removable so that the shipping box wouldn’t have to be too deep. This is an easy task on the Frisky Pete as the 3/32-inch diameter music wire landing gear is sandwiched between two pieces of plywood with a center plywood spacer below the traverse section of the LG wire. It was a simple matter to use a single bolt through the three pieces of plywood to clamp the gear securely in place. The DVD you received with this package shows this modification in detail. It was necessary to glue the landing gear wire to the spacer and put a blind nut behind the aft plywood piece. The removable landing gear allows you to make up two sets of landing gear; one with pants for asphalt circles and smooth grass fields and one for rough grass fields.
The Fox .25 I used was re-worked by my flying buddy, Tom Hampshire. It ran smooth and had a bunch of power, but it was also quite thirsty. Add to that the fact that in modern (?) OTS competition we now have to allow two laps between maneuvers for judging, where in the early 1950s they only had to do one lap, and you can see that the stock tank compartment was way too small. I cut a notch in the leading edge of the wing to accommodate a larger tank. In doing so I weakened the wing a bit and also went into the area where the bellcrank was supposed to be mounted according to the plan. The bellcrank position is not critical, so I simply moved it aft and substituted a post type mount (as you would use in a foam wing) in place of the plate type mount shown on the plan. It was positioned just far enough aft to clear the rear of the new tank compartment.
To regain the lost strength from cutting away the leading edge sheeting I installed two basswood “tension and compression” joiners like the ones I’ve used successfully for years in my Lost-Foam built-up wings. These joiners fit into the ribs on the top and bottom, butt up against the 3/16 balsa spars in each wing and also glue to the center section sheeting when it is installed. The result is a much stronger than stock arrangement. The top basswood spar is in tension during outside maneuvers and in compression during inside maneuvers. The bottom spar is in tension during insides and in compression during outsides. This is extremely strong construction and it makes for an even better performing and much longer lasting model! I have added two addendum views on the plan to depict these modifications. Being that they are all internal modifications and in no way affect the outside aesthetics or dimensions of the finished model that are perfectly legal in OTS competition. Note that the basswood joiners also double as additional bellcrank mounts! I position narrow pieces of 1/16 inch thick plywood over the bellcrank post on the top and bottom of the wing after it has been installed in the fuselage (See drawing for clarification of this).
I built the wing for my Frisky Pete in my Lost-Foam Wing Building system. This system virtually assures a perfectly straight, warp-free wing. In this system a blank for a foam core replica of the desired built-up wing is cut. The rib positions are lofted vertically from the bench to the top of each blank. Then the root and tip templates are attached to the blanks and the core is cut as with a normal foam wing. The core is then sanded and the rib positions are drawn across the core in pen. The spar is also drawn on the core, as is the position of the trailing edge. The spar position is also drawn on the bottom of the core. The lower cradle half, which is just as accurate a negative representation of the wing shape as the core is a positive representation, is sanded and the entire plan-form of the wing is again laid out on the cradle’s surface in pen. The two lower cradle halves are then joined with epoxy.
A perfectly accurate rib template is achieved by laying the end of one of the cores (Remember, this is a constant chord wing…) onto a piece of 1/32 inch thick plywood and tracing the shape onto the plywood. The plywood is then cut close to the line, but not to it! The plywood rib template blank is then pinned to the end of the foam core using 4 penny nails, and the plywood template blank is detail sanded, using a block fitted with #220 grit sandpaper, until it conforms perfectly to the core. Before we remove the template from the core, we make tick marks where the spar will be located and then add in the notches after the template has been removed from the core.
We cut our cores with fully rounded leading edges because we prefer to use molded leading edge shells instead of carved blocks. And so, the round nose is reflected in the template. The molded leading edge is much simpler to make, it is lighter and it is absolutely accurate. The original plan for the Frisky Pete called for the ribs to be cut from 3/32 inch balsa. I opted to make them from 1/16 balsa. Since they are under cap strips anyway, this is another modification that is perfectly legal under the OTS rules. The thinner ribs are more than strong enough, and are lighter. I also fitted the 1/16 shear webs between the 3/16 inch square spars instead of gluing them behind the spars and under the cap strips as the plans depict. This is a legal internal modification. I added in an adjustable leadout guide and an adjustable tip weight box; again both legal modifications under the OTS rules.
The plans show a sheeted turtle deck and forward fuselage deck. I substituted carved and hollowed balsa blocks for these pieces, being very careful to duplicate the shapes of the original sheeted parts. I’m going to build another Frisky Pete soon and use molded balsa shells for the turtle deck and the forward fuselage decking. I’m planning to make the molded shells commercially available at that time. The Lost-Foam Wing Building System for the Frisky Pete is available now through Robin’s View Productions. If you order this fixture set for use with a molded leading edge, a set of leading edge mold bucks will be included. Also included is a pre-made 1/32 plywood rib template so you can start cutting ribs immediately. We also offer a service in which we will mold the leading edge shells for you, or even build the entire wing.
I covered my Frisky Pete with Polyspan. After several coats of clear dope were applied, I tinted some thinner using Polyspan dye and sprayed it on the airframe to achieve a great tinted finish effect. Some acrylic lacquer medium blue was used for the trim and a black pinstripe was added for contrast. All of this finish was applied in less than four days! The Frisky Pete won the Best Appearing OTS model at VSC that year. The prize was a fully built and finished model donated by Floyd Carter. That was a surprise!
My Frisky Pete weighed in at 22 ounces ready to fly. I made a custom 3 ˝ ounce fuel tank from .007 tin stock and it was just enough! I flew it on 60 foot long .012 lines (Center of the handle to the center of the bellcrank). On its third flight it won the first round of OTS at the 1995 VSC… I’d say that was “right off the board” performance!
As mentioned earlier, I flew mine on a Fox .25 fitted with a Zinger 10 x 4 prop. The next one will be powered by either an Enya .25 or a Magnum .25. There are several other excellent .25 size motors on the market that would work fine as well.
I’d be most pleased to answer any and all questions you might have about the Frisky Pete, especially questions that you might have while building one. My phone number is: 610-746-0106 and I’m usually in my shop each evening until at least 10:00 PM (Eastern).
Here are the vital stats on the Frisky Pete:
Wingspan: 40 inches
Wing area: 310 square inches
Suggested flying weight: 21 to 30 ounces (The lighter the better!)
Power: .19 to .29 glow engines